Atlanta is not in Georgia. Tbilisi is.

There are few today who would confuse Georgia the country with Georgia the US state, despite the homonymy – not least because of its decades-long political saga with its neighbor, Russia. Georgia’s fame comes largely thanks to its capital’s burgeoning creative scene – one driven by a growing community of artists, filmmakers, designers, writers, musicians, and curators, supported by a plethora of educational programs, commercial and non-commercial galleries, residencies, and cultural events that nurture local talent, foster innovation, and have thrust the nearly 2000-year-old Georgian city into the global spotlight.

‘The Tbilisi art community has undergone a remarkable transformation, characterized by the emergence of numerous galleries and nonprofit organizations. Despite facing challenges such as very little governmental support and institutional backing, our community has attracted considerable global attention, a testament to our resilience and creativity,’ says Lisa Offermann, co-founder of LC Queisser, a Tbilisi-based gallery.

Though often touted as being at the crossroads of East and West, you’ll definitely see and feel more of ‘Europe’ than ‘Asia’ in the people, businesses, and architecture of Tbilisi. There are glorious 19th-century German designs, Soviet Brutalism, monumental, marble-clad edifices unique to the region, and remnants of the Persian and Ottoman conquests in the city’s bath house district. These are juxtaposed with an increasing number of glass-wrapped towers, among them Alexander Mezhevidze’s magnificent Axis Towers built in 2019.

Since Georgia gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, its people have been fighting decades of isolation to reclaim their identity, working to preserve and proudly show off their country’s rich heritage and reassert Georgia within global cultural dialogue. Tbilisi stands as a vibrant epicenter in this grassroots movement, drawing locals and visitors alike with its culinary delights, wine from a viticulture dating back 8000 years, mountains and lakes, museums displaying the country’s 11–13th-century Golden Age legends and artifacts, its contemporary bohemian warmth, famed hospitality, and thriving art ecosystem, driven by talented artists.

‘Despite the daunting conditions of the 1990s, which saw artists grappling with adversity, the development of Georgian art persevered,’ Vanda Mujiri, founder of the Vanda Art Gallery, tells Art Basel. ‘Artists kept their creative drive, refusing to relent in their endeavors. Today, representatives of this era, often referred to as the “’80s and ’90s [generations],” enjoy successful exhibitions in various venues, both at home and abroad, their works fetching respectable prices at international art fairs and prestigious auctions.’

Among the best-known Georgian artists on the international stage are Andro Wekua, Thea Djordjadze, Anna K.E., and Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili, though these have all moved abroad to expand their reach. Tbilisi-based innovators, however, continue to foster a lively creative environment, and can speak to the evolution of the city and its art scene. Several seem drawn to exploring the darker side of the country’s identity. Most were youths during the ‘dark 1990s’ following the collapse of the USSR – a thankfully overcome time of civil war, power cuts, bride kidnappings, and gang warfare as Georgia fought to find its feet, return to its former glory, and re-establish its early 20th-century ‘Europeanness.’ While likely protected from the worst of the period by their families, these artists were without doubt impacted by those hard times, and so a generation of insightful thinkers emerged, whose work today encourages us to question the place, choices, and deeds of humanity.

Tolia Astakhishvili’s paintings, drawings, and sprawling architectural installations, created from everyday objects, invite viewers to step into worlds where peace and security are in constant flux with violence, chaos, or the irrational. The artist says she likes to make clear thresholds between what is ‘this world’ and what is fictional – reflecting human desire for contained spaces that offer protection against the confusion of the world.

Similarly, Nika Kutateladze juxtaposes reality and the absurd, via architectural and painterly gestures, in his case in order to address the harshness of living in poverty in Georgia. In his works, he brings the outside in, with a particular focus on installations and sculptures made of old Georgian building materials, and even buildings themselves set up in the gallery space, combined with oil paintings in dark, natural colors. A stand-out is the thorn-filled house he first presented at the Tbilisi Architectural Biennial in 2018, ‘To Protect My House While I’m Away’, inspired by an abandoned village he once saw in Georgia’s beautiful, very rural Guria region.

‘Contemporary Georgian artists have their own unique style,’ says Sophio Chakvetadze, General Manager at ATINATI, a media platform for art and culture in Georgia. ‘Georgia is a country at the crossroads of East and West, and has been distinguished by its unique culture since ancient times.’

‘There’s an intriguing momentum and growth within Georgia’s artistic sphere,’ adds Beka Sakvarelidze, a Tbilisi-based painter. ‘Georgian art still embodies a potent energy that many other nations have lost over time. If Georgia harnesses this potential effectively, it could convey poignant and stimulating messages to the global community.’

That community has definitely taken notice of the singular and oneiric approach to image-making shared by many Georgian artists. Sakvarelidze’s output – moody, expressive paintings depicting schematic figures and cityscapes – exemplifies this approach. This confluence of everyday motifs and poetic execution can also be found in the work of older Georgian artists, such as the recently discovered 78-year-old Elene Chantladze, or the 20th-century primitivist Niko Pirosmani, considered one of the founders of Georgian Modern art. Andro Eradze, meanwhile, explores imagery and humanity through both still and moving media, inspired by the writings of Donna Haraway and John Berger. Poetry plays a role in Eradze’s practice too: His video Raised in the Dust (2022), which was included in the 2022 Venice Biennale, was inspired by the ending of Georgian poet Vazha-Pshavela’s The Snake Eater (1901). In the film, taxidermized animals are posed in a forest, with their natural habitat and behaviors disturbed by fireworks.

‘In the current era of global communication and information accessibility, a new generation of artists has emerged,’ Mujiri says. ‘They embrace intellectual conceptual themes with a newfound freedom, coexisting alongside traditional painters and proponents of Postmodern trends. Armed with extensive knowledge of contemporary art processes and opportunities to work across mediums, Tbilisi’s artists benefit from open borders, travel, and study abroad, resulting in captivating creations.’

In addition to Mujiri’s own gallery and LC Queisser, the Center of Contemporary Art Tbilisi (CCA) and the Visual Arts, Architecture, and Design School (VAADS) are among those playing pivotal roles in the development of Georgia’s growing art scene. The Why Not Gallery, Dissolution, Maudi, Kunsthalle Tbilisi, ATINATI and BI Auction are other vital platforms for connecting emerging artists with audiences both locally and internationally. Alongside these, well-established annual events like the Tbilisi Art Fair, Kolga Tbilisi Photo, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Tbilisi Mural Fest, and the international contemporary art festivals Fest i Nova and Artisterium, do well to showcase the city’s dynamic cultural landscape to the world. These initiatives not only enrich the local art scene, but also attract visitors who contribute to the capital’s vibrant energy and fuel its contemporary culture.

As Tbilisi continues to assert its deserved place on the global stage, its art ecosystem remains a testament to the city’s resilience and creativity. Georgia’s enigmatic capital, with its unique blend of tradition and innovation, is all set in its mission to captivate the world with its artistic prowess, and to deliver lessons in history for many years to come.